Tag: Buck Rogers

There aren’t just comics in the Cartoon Library! Here are some freshly processed LPs related to comics, cartoon art and conventions from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection. Ah, two of the most collected items in history, together at last!

Maybe we’ll have a listening party in our new building next year.

First up, recordings from The 1975 San Diego Comic-Con, including an opening address from Ray Bradbury! If any of you recognize anyone in the high-contrast banquet photo on the back, please let us know!

Cover of “The 1975 San Diego Comic-Con”, from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Back cover of “The 1975 San Diego Comic-Con”, from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Below: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, the first four 15-minute episodes of the CBS radio series from 1932. Dick Tracy in B-Flat, or For Goodness Sake Isn’t He Ever Going to Marry Tess Trueheart? featuring Judy Garland as Snowflake, Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy, Frank Sinatra as Shaky, Bob Hope as Flattop, Dinah Shore as Tess Trueheart, and Jimmy Durante as The Mole- this was a live broadcast for the troops overseas in 1945, put on by the Armed Forces Radio Service. Gravely by Robert Bloch, the author of Psycho reads his short stories on this album with cover art by Gahan Wilson from 1976! Lastly, Al Capp on Campus, a collection of Capp’s speeches given to college students.

Records from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Below, Songs of the Pogo, lyrics by Walt Kelly and music by Norman Monath- but wait- SUNG by Walt Kelly himself! With the help of Fia Karin, Mike Stewart, and Bob Miller. The Terry and the Pirates original radio broadcast, with the charming description on the back “In these, Terry is where he belongs- where the Dragon Lady is scheming, where Pat Ryan is punching, where it is always sometime in the thirties, somewhere in China.” Finally, another edition of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and the Dick Tracy original radio broadcast.

Records from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Below, art by the one and only George Herriman for Don Marquis’ Archy and Mehitabel, narrated by David Wayne, with the voices of Eddie Bracken, Carol Channing, and Percival Dove. The Phantom Limbs album Romance, featuring art by Gray Morrow, Charlotte Weaver and Jim Lawrence. The soundtrack to the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States, Fritz the Cat. And finally, Popeye the Sailor Man, musical stories from the original TV scripts, narrated by Harry F. Welch. The back cover of this album states “The Rocking Horse Players and Orchestra have written and produced hundreds of happy records for young folks to provide them with hours of fun-a-plenty.”

Records from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Below, the original radio broadcasts Blondie, and the exclusive Wonder Woman stories “The Amazons from Space”, “The Secret of the Magic Tiara”, and “Wonder Woman Versus the War-God”. A Daily News/Chicago Tribune split of Frank King’s Gasoline Alley and Frank Willard’s Moon Mullins radio broadcasts. Lastly, The Official Adventures of The Shadow, written by John Fleming with cartoon illustrations.

Records from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

The original radio broadcasts of Alex Raymond’s Jungle Jim, followed by Peanuts stories come to life in the voices of Kaye Ballard and Arthur Siegel- which came to fruition when Charles Schulz showed up at one of their performances and the two actors/Peanuts fans acted out a few of the strips they had memorized. The 1966 Batman and Robin soundtrack, and the original radio broadcasts of Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond.

Records from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

And finally, quite possibly the ultimate album artwork in this latest batch, The Groundhogs Who Will Save the World? fully illustrated by Neal Adams.

Neal Adams album art for The Groundhogs, 1972. From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Neal Adams inner album art for The Groundhogs, 1972. From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Neal Adams inner album art for The Groundhogs, 1972. From the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

Here at the Cartoon Library, we are deeply saddened by the loss of the all-time master of science fiction, Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was an inspiration for all, and a true friend to cartoonists and lover of the form. His work has been adapted by some of the greatest cartoonists world-over, and in his memory we have provided below a sampling of some of the varying styles that gave vision to his writing.

Issues 1 and 2 of the Topps Comics series "Ray Bradbury Comics". From The San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

First, an excerpt from Bradbury’s introduction to The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Vol.1, a collection of comic adaptations of his writing that were originally published as Ray Bradbury Comics by Topps Comics (image above).

For comic strips, comic books and the creators of comics have filled my life since I was nine years old and “Buck Rogers” exploded before my eyes in the “Waukegan News Sun”. I knew then that I was staring at something that would change my life forever. That one strip, on an October afternoon in 1929, seized me into the future and would not let me return. I learned my first lesson in aesthetic that autumn. I collected Buck Rogers for three months and then when kids in school made fun of me for believing in the future, I tore them up. A week later, I burst into tears. Why am I crying? I asked myself. Who died? The answer was: me. I had listened to those fools who didn’t believe that one day we would arrive on the Moon or visit Mars. I made my most important decision then. I went back to collecting “Buck Rogers”. In all the years since I have not once listened to any so-called friend who made fun of my hobby, my dream, my lifeblood.

P. Craig Russell adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Golden Apples Of The Sun". The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

For Ray Bradbury:

"Buck Rogers" tearsheet from April 18th, 1937, art by Rick Yager. From The San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (click to enlarge)

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We hope that you’ll enjoy taking a glimpse into our incredible collection, as well as getting updates on the latest news and events coming out of the largest cartoon art library in the world. Feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, or to schedule a visit to the library!